Coincidental door locking apparatus for an automobile



Nov. 8, 1960 J. w. DYER EIAL COINCIDENTAL DOOR LOCKING APPARATUS FOR ANAUTOMOBILE Filed Sept. 28, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

TTOPIVEI Nov. 8, 1960 .1. w. DYER EIAL 2,959,238

comcmaum. DOOR LOCKING APPARATUS FOR AN AUTOMOBILE Filed Sept. 28, 19593 Sheets-Sheet 2 HHII IL A TTOP/VE Y Nov. 8, 1960 J. w. DYER ETALCOINCIDENTAL DOOR LOCKING APPARATUS FOR AN AUTOMOBILE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Sept. 28, 1959 United States Patent 'COINCIDENTAL DOOR LOCKINGAPPARATUS FOR AN AUTOMOBILE John W. Dyer, Pendleton, and Richard L.Sprague,

Anderson, Ind., assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich.,a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 842,723

8 Claims. 01. 180-82) This invention relates to vehicle door lockingmeans, and more particularly to coincidental door locking apparatus foran automobile.

Each door of an automobile conventionally is provided with a door latch,each of which can be independently locked manually from inside theautomobile, preferably by means of a garnish molding button. Inaddition, each front door can be locked from the outside by means of akey, and many automobiles also incorporate a keyless locking featurewhereby, upon depression of the garnish molding button when the door isopen and subsequent operation of the outside push button as the door isbeing closed, the door will be locked as the occupant leaves thevehicle.

This invention relates to improved coincidental lock operating meanswhereby more than one door can be locked and unlocked in a singleoperation.

An important feature of the invention is that it provides switch meanswhereby the driver can choose among three types of operation of thecoincidental lock operating means, these three types of operation beingidentified as manual, semi-automatic, and automatic.

When manual operation is selected, all door locks are controlled by thefront door inside lock operating means (garnish molding buttons in theapparatus illustrated) or by the front door outside key locks. Thesystem is so arranged that a warning light comes on if a rear door isunlocked when the transmission selector lever is placed in a driveposition, as drive, low, or reverse in a conventional type of automatictransmission. The rear door locks are capable of individual manualoperation without effect on the other doors. In the event one or moredoors are unlocked when the transmission selector lever is in a driveposition, relocking is accomplished by raising a front door garnishmolding button or operating key lock to unlock all doors, and thenlowering the button or turning the key to relock all doors.

When the semi-automatic type of operation is selected, all doors arelocked by operation of the front inside or outside lock operating means.Simultaneous unlocking of the doors may be accomplished only when thetransmission selector lever is in a neutral position, as park or neutralin a conventional type of automatic transmission. The rear door locksare independently individually operable as in the manual system.Relocking an unlocked door when the transmission selector lever is in adrive position is accomplished by raising a front door garnish moldingbutton to operate a switch which is connected thereto and then loweringthe button to relock the doors. The locked doors will not becomeunlocked during this operation.

If automatic operation is selected, the front door garnish moldingbuttons or the front door key locks control all door locks so long asthe transmission selector lever is in park or neutral. When thetransmission selector lever is placed in a drive position, all doors areautomatically locked and the lever must' be moved back to a neutralposition in order to unlock any door.

Among other features of the invention, it incorporates time delay meanswhich operate after a predetermined lapse of time to disconnect thesystem from the power source, thus avoiding the expenditure of powerexcept during the short periods of time when coincidental locking andunlocking actually occur. In the event of power failure, the system isunder manual 'control as in conventional automobile door lockarrangements. The improved system operates through lock and unlocksolenoids in each door, each of these solenoids being so located that itis relatively invulnerable to the effects of inertia during rapidacceleration and deceleration of the automobile.

Other features of the improved arrangement are that in the event one ofthe door lock manual control means (that is, one of the garnish moldingbuttons in the type of system shown in the drawings) gets in theopposite lock condition from the condition of the other doors throughmanual operation, it will not be moved to the other lock condition uponautomatic operation, but will fall into step with the rest of thesystem. Manual operation of either front door lock does not require asmuch force as is necessary to lock the door in a conventional manualsystem because during manual operation of either of the front doorgarnish molding buttons or either front door key lock, electricalcontact is made so that the solenoids take over and complete theoperation after the exercise of only enough manual force as is necessaryto bring the parts into an intermediate position where the electricalcircuit is completed. Also, our improved system is so arranged that itwill not machine gun unless one control button is held up and one isheld down throughout a complete cycle. In such an event, the system willmachine gun at the relatively slow rate of approximately one cycle persecond.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial side elevational view of a 4-door automobile havingthe improved coincidental door locking system incorporated therein, thebasic components of the locking arrangement being shown inside each doorin broken lines;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view, partly broken away, of the front door latchof Fig. 1, together with the operating solenoids therefor;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the rear door lockingapparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through the switch unit of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the coincidental lockoperating apparatus.

Latch structure Referring now more particularly to the drawings, thereference character 10 designates generally an automobile having a frontdoor 12 and a rear door 14. As is conventional, the opposite side of theautomobile is provided with similar front and rear doors. Each doorcarries between its inner and outer panels a door latch which may besimilar to the latches shown and described in detail in Patent2,871,049, which issued on January 27, 1959, to S. D. Cockburn, et al.,and which is assigned to the assignee of this application. In the frontdoor this latch is designated generally as 16 and in the rear door thelatch is designated generally as 18. The front door latch may beoperated from outside the automobile by a push button assembly 20slidably carried in a fixed gripping handle 22 which is mounted on theouter door panel. From the inside the door may be operated by a turnhandle 24 which is connected by a rod 26 to the latch. Locking andunlocking may be accomplished from the outside by a conventionalkeyoperated cylinder which is carried in the push button 20. From theinside the door may be locked and unlocked by a garnish molding button28 which is connected to the latch by a rod 30.

Similarly, the rear door latch 18 maybe operated from the outside by apush button assembly 32 which is slidably mounted in a fixed grippinghandle 34 secured to the vouter panel of the door 14. A turn handle 36is mounted on the-inner panel of the door and is connected to the latchby a rod 38 for operation of the latch from inside the automobile. Inthe rear door there is usually no outside key-operated lock and the onlymeans for locking the door is a conventional garnish molding button 40which is connected by a rod 42, a switch 43 and a rod 45 to the doorlatch 18.

. Figure 2 shows the front door latch in perspective. The latchcomprises a frame. designated generally as 44 andhaving a base portion46 which, when the latch is mounted in-the door, lies closely adjacentand parallel to the jamb face of the door. A right angle flange portion48 of the frame lies adjacent and parallel to the inner door panel andcarries certain of the latch operating parts. The latch includes arotary bolt 50 formed generally as a. gear and adapted to cooperate withcomplementary teeth in a striker which is mounted on the body. Thestriker isnot shown but it may be similar to the striker shown anddescribed in Patent 2,871,049. The bolt 50 is fixedly mounted on a boltshaft 52 which extends through and is rotatable in the base 46 of thelatch frame. On the opposite surface of the frame from the bolt, thereis a cam or ratchet member 54 which is also fixedly mounted on the shaft52 so that the bolt 50, shaft 52, and ratchet 54 are effectively anintegral unit. 1

'The bolt assembly 50, 52, 54 is held against rotation in a door openingdirection to retain the door in latched position with the bolt teeth inengagement with the corn plementary striker teeth by a detent 56 whichis pivotally mounted on a stud 58 extending from the latch frame. Aspring 60 is'coiled about the stud 58 and has one end hooked into thedetent to urge the detent into engagement with the ratchet 54, and whenthe detent engages the ratchet as shown in Figure 2, the bolt assemblyis held against rotation in a counterclockwise direction so that thedoor is latched and cannot be opened. Since the ratchet teeth each has asloping back side, the detent is cammedout of the way when the door isbeing closed and thebolt rolls over the striker teeth in a door closingdirection.

Means for operating the detent from outside the automobile comprises adetent release lever 62 which is pivot ally mounted at 64 on the latchframe and which is urged toward a normal retracted position by the otherend of the spring 60 which is hooked over the end of the release lever.At its free end, the release lever has a flange 62a bent therefrom atright angles for engagement by the push button 20 so that upon operationof the push button from outside the automobile, the release lever isswung in a clockwise direction as the parts appear in Figure 2. Anintermittent link 66 is pivotally mounted at 68 on the release lever 62and has an arm 66a which is adapted to engage one arm 70a of amulti-arrned multiplier lever 70 which is pivoted on the latch frame at72. Another arm 70b of the multipler lever is connected to the detent sothat when the push button 20 is pushed in, the multiplier lever ispicked up by the intermittent link 66 and moved in a clockwise directionto swing the detent 56 in a counterclockwise direction out of engagementwith the ratchet 54 to permit free rotation of thebolt, assembly in adoor opening direction. The door may now be pulled open, the both teethriding over the complementary teeth of the striker.

For inside operation, there is a remote lever 74 pivotally mounted at 76on the flange portion f the fr me.

This lever is connected to the rod 26 which, as shown in Fig. 1, isconnected at its other end to the turn handle 24. Operation of the turnhandle will pull on the rod 26 to swing the remote lever 74 in acounterclockwise direction so that a finger 74a on this lever whichoverlies a third arm 700 of the multiplier lever '70 will pick up themultiplier lever and swing the detent out of engagement with the ratchet54.

The door latch illustrated'is adapted to be locked against outsideoperation by uncoupling the intermittent link 66 from themultiplier'lever 78 so that upon operation of the push button 20, theintermittent link merely free wheels and does not move the multiplierlever 70 or the detent 56. Even though the door is locked againstoutside operation it is never locked against inside operation since theremote lever '74 is always coupled to the multiplier lever 70.

In order to lock the doortfrom the outside, there is a rock lever 78which is pivotally mounted at 80 on the latch frame and which terminatesat its outer end in a flange 78a which is received in the bifurcated endof a member 82 which is connected to and moved by the key cylinder inconventional and well known manner. When a proper key is inserted intothe key cylinder and turned, the member 82 is moved to swing the rocklever 78 about its pivot'80. A link 84 is connected to the inner end ofthe rock lever 78 and extends upwardly where it is connected to a'shiftable locking member 86 which is pivotally mounted at 88 on theflange portion 48 of the latch frame. The lockingmember 86 hasbifurcated arms 86a and 8612 which receive between them a flange bentfrom the end of a second arm 66b of the intermittent link 66, When thekey is turned the rock lever 78 is swung to .pult down on the link 84and swing the locking member 86 in a counterclockwise direction. Thebifurcated arms pick up the intermittent link and swingtit downwardly sothat its coupling arm 66a is out of the way of the multiplier lever, andwhen the push button 28 is operated the inter mittent link merely freewheels and does not pick up the multiplier'lever. An overcenter spring90 yieldably holds the locking member 86 in eitherlocked or unlockedposition.

Locking from the inside is accomplished through the garnish moldingbutton 28 which is connected to the lock ing member 86 through the rod30 and through a'lever 92 which is pivoted on the flange 48 of the latchframe and is coupled by a tab 92a to the locking member 86. Depressionof the garnish molding button 28 pushes-down on the rod 30' and swingsthe lever 92 in a clockwise direction. This in turn picks up the lockingmember 86 and swings it in a counterclockwise direction to swing theintermittent linkdown out of coupling engagement with the multiplierlever and lock the door.

Asjexplained more fully in Patent 2,871,049, the latch shown in Figure 2has an undogging feature, whereby, if thengarnish molding -button 28'isdepressed to place the latch'parts in locked position while the dooris'open and the door is then closed, the latch parts will be returned totheir unlocked position so thatthe operator of-the automobile will notinadvertently lock himself out of the car should he leave the keys inthe ignition. On the other hand the latch is soarranged that ifdesiredthe door can be locked without a key upon the performance of a consciousact ,bythe'operator. The undogging function is accomplished byinter'engagement of an abutment 66s on the intermittent link 66 with acomplementary abut-- ment 56a on the detent. When the latch parts are inlocked position, the intermittent link 66 is swung clockwise from theposition shown in Figure 2 so that the abutment 66c lies closelyadjacent the detent abutment 5.6a. When'the door'i's closed with, theparts in thisposi-. tion, .the detent is cammedzoverthe sloping backside of one or moreof the ratchet teeth, pivoting the detent in acounterclockwise direction so that the detent abutment 56a picksup'theintermittent Elink abutment 66c and swings.

the intermittent link 66 counterclockwise past a point where theovercenter spring 90 takes over and completes the movement of the partsback to unlocked position. On the other hand, should the operatorconsciously desire to lock the door without the use of a key, he merelypushes down on the garnish molding button 28 when the door is open andwhile the door is being closed he pushes in on the push button 20. Thislatter operation shifts the release lever 62 and the intermittent link66 to the right in Fig. 2 so that the intermittent link abutment 66c isout of the path of movement of the detent abutment 56a. When the door isclosed with the parts in this position, there is no undogging action toshift the latch parts back to unlocked position.

In order to accomplish the coincidental locking which is the subject ofthis invention, there is a locking solenoid 100 and an unlockingsolenoid 102 connected through a lever arrangement to the lever 92. Arod 104 extends from lever 92 to a rock lever 106 which is pivotallymounted at 108 on a bracket in the door. The rock lever 106 is connectedon one side of its pivot to the armature 102a of the solenoid 102 and isconnected on the other side of its pivot 108 to the armature 100a of thesolenoid 100.

The connection between the respective solenoid armatures 100a and 102aand the lever 106 is made by means of an open-ended slot in each of thearmatures into which an end of the rock lever 106 is loosely received.Vinyl tubing as shown at 106a is mounted on each end of the lever toreduce the noise of impact. As shown in Fig. 2, the solenoids aremounted with the plungers hanging down to reduce the possibility thatdirt and moisture will jam the moving parts. Since the latch parts areaided in movement between locked and unlocked positions by theovercenter spring 90, the solenoids 100 and 102 are so located andarranged that their plungers carry the lever 106 just past a centerposition. The door locking parts complete their travel under theinfluence of the overcenter spring 90.

Solenoid 100 is the locking solenoid and upon energization of thesolenoid, its armature 100a is moved downwardly to swing the link 106 ina counterclockwise direction, moving the rod 104 downwardly and swingingthe lever 92 in a clockwise direction and the locking member 86 in acounterclockwise direction to place the latch parts in locked position.Conversely, when the unlocking solenoid 102 is energized, its armature102a moves downwardly, swinging the rock lever 106 in a clockwisedirection and moving the latch parts to unlocked position.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the apparatus which is mounted in the right rear door14. The rear door latch 18 is substantially identical with the frontdoor latch 16 which has been previously described. The principaldifferences in the construction of the latch are, first, the omission ofthe outside key locking apparatus; and, second, the provision of aso-called selective free wheeling arrangement. The latch parts which aremounted on the body portion of the frame facing the jamb face of thedoor are identical with the front door latch described above.

As is more fully disclosed in Patent No. 2,871,049, on the flangeportion of the latch frame, the rear door latch has a locking member 120pivotally mounted at 122 and having bifurcated arms 120a and 12Gb whichstraddle an arm 12212 of an intermittent link which is similar to theintermittent link 66 of Fig. 2. Upon counterclockwise swinging movementof the locking member 120, the intermittent link is swung downwardly toa free wheeling or door locked position as described in connection withFig. 2. An overcenter spring 124 yieldably holds the locking member 120either in locked or unlocked position.

As in the front door latch 16, the rear door latch 18 has a detentoperating multiplier lever with an arm 1260 which underlies a remotelever 128. One of the difierences between the rear door latch and thefront door latch is that the remote lever is not connected directly tothe remote operating rod 38, but instead the rod 38 is connected to aselective free wheeling lever 130 which is pivoted coaxially with theremote lever at 132. A free wheeling selector rod 134 is connectedbetween the locking member and the levers 128 and 130, being held in aselected position by a spring 136. With the rod 134 in the positionshown, the levers 128 and 130 are tied together only when the lockingmember 120 is in door unlocked position as illustrated. Now, if theinside handle 36 is turned, both levers 128 and 130 are swung in acounterclockwise direction and the lever 128 picks up the multiplierlever arm 126C to swing the detent out of engagement with the boltratchet. On the other hand, if the locking member 120 is swung in acounterclockwise direction to place the latch parts in locked conditionas described in connection with Fig. 2, the rod 134 moves down adjacentthe horizontal portion of an L-shaped slot 130a in the lever 130. Withthe parts in this position, the lever 130 may swing relative to thelever 128, and when the inside operating handle 36 is turned, only thelever 130 moves and the door cannot be opened by operation of the insidehandle. If desired, the rod 134 and spring 136 can be moved upwardly bya proper tool so that the lower end of the rod 134 never is in alignmentwith the horizontal portion of the slot 130a and the levers 128 and 130are tied together regardless of whether the parts are in locked orunlocked position. Under this condition of operation, the rear door canalways be opened by the inside handle.

The locking member 120 is connected to the garnish molding button 40through the rod 45, the switch 43, the rod 42 and a bell crank 137, thevertical movement of the garnish molding button being translated intohorizontal movement of the rods 42 and 45 by the bell crank. When thegarnish molding button is depressed, the locking member 120 is swung ina counterclockwise direction to lock the door.

For coincidental operation of the locking means, there is a lockingsolenoid 140 and an unlocking solenoid 142 which are mounted in the doorbelow the door latch and which are connected to the mechanical lockingmeans of the door latch by means including a bell crank 144 which ispivoted on the latch frame and is connected at one end to the lockingmember 120 and at the other end to a rod 146. The other end of the rod146 is connected to one end of a rock lever 148 which is pivoted at 150and which is connected by a slot arrangement similar to the structure ofFig. 2 to the armatures of the respective locking and unlockingsolenoids 140 and 142.

Fig. 4 shows the internal construction of the switch 43. The rod 42extends through the switch casing and its end is peened or otherwisesecured to the base of a cup-shaped outer casing 152 of the switch 43.An insulating washer 153 is mounted in the other end of the casing 152and holds spaced contacts 154 and 156, each of which carries a connectorextending out of the casing. An inner cupshaped casing 158 is slidablein the outer casing 152. At its open end, the inner casing has aninsulating washer 160 into which a ring of conductive material 162 isinlaid. The washer 160 is slidable in the casing 158 and is retained inthe casing by an inwardly turned annular flange 158a at the open end ofthe casing. A spring 164 yieldably urges the washer 160 against theflange 158a and a smaller spring 166 is seated between the twoinsulating washers 153 and 160. The rod 45 is connected by pins 45a and45b to the base of the inner casing 158. If the garnish molding button40 is depressed, the switch will not be closed because the entire switchunit will move as the rod 42 is pulled to the right in Figs. 3 and 4. Ontheother hand, when the garnish molding button is lifted, the

switch closes against the force of spring 166 and the con-- tacts 154and 156 are shorted by the conductive ring 162..

This condition is maintained until the door unlocking solenoid takesover the unlocking operation, at which time the ring 162 is moved out ofshorting engagement with the *7 contacts 154 and ,156, as the unlockingsolenoid pulls on meted 45.

coincidental lock operating means Referring to Fig. 5, the components ofthe coincidental lock operating circuit include a battery 200 which maybe theusual automobile battery. A double pole, double throw switch 202is arranged to be operated by the transmission selector lever in amanner similar to the switch disclosed in the copending application ofAdams et al., ,entitled Automobhe Door Latching System, which was filedMarch 25, 1957, as Serial No. 648,209, and which was assigned to theassignee of this application. This switch is so arranged that itcompletes one circuit when the transmission selector lever is in a driveposition (as drive, low or reverse in a conventional automatictransmission) and the switch completes another circuit when thetransmission selector lever is in a neutral position (as park or neutralin a conventional automatic transmission).

A switching unit designated generally as 204 comprisesasolenoid-operated combination switch including a solenoid coil 204a, apair of ratchet type reversing switches 204i; and 2040, and a pair ofswitch contacts 204d. The contacts 204d are arranged to close when thesolenoid is energized and the ratchet type reversing switches 20411 and204s are arranged to be operated by the release move ment of the springloaded solenoid plunger. The revers ing switch 204b is connected to thesolenoid coil 20411 through a self-closing circuit breaker 204:: whichmay be of the type conventionally used to control automobile turn signalflasher devices. This circuit breaker is normally closed. In theoperation of the switching unit 204 when a circuit is closed through thereversing switch 20411, the solenoid is energized and its plunger movesto close the normally open switch contacts 204d. After a predeterminedtime delay which is inherent in the operation of the normally closedcircuit breaker 2042, the circuit breaker opens and the circuit to thesolenoid coil 204a is broken. The spring-pressed solenoid plunger isreleased, opening the switch contacts 204d and causing the ratchet typereversing switches to operate to their opposite position. With the partsin this position, the switching unit will operate again if a circuit isclosed through the other terminal of the reversing switch 204b. Theswitch contacts 204d are connected to the reversing switch 2040 so thata circuit is closed whenever the solenoid coil 204a is energized to oneof two terminals depending upon the position of the movable armature ofthe reversing switch 204c. This circuit is broken when the circuitbreaker 204a operates approximatelyone second after initialenergization.

The reference character 206 designates a rear door safety relay whichhas a coil 206a and a pair of contacts 206!) which are held open whenthe coil is not energized by a spring 206a. When the coil 206a isenergized, the contacts 2061) connect the locking solenoids in each doordirectly to the battery. As pointed out earlier, each door mounts alocking solenoid and an unlocking solenoid, the right front doorcarrying locking solenoid 100 and unlocking solenoid 102, and the rightrear door carrying locking solenoid 140 and unlocking solenoid 142. Theleft doors are similar, the left front door having a locking solenoid208 and an unlocking solenoid 210, and the left rear door having alocking solenoid 2.12 and an unlocking solenoid 214. One contact of theswitch 206c of the relay 206 is connected to the battery by a lead 216and the other contact of the switch is connected by a lead 218 to eachof the locking solenoids, the lead 218 having branch leads 218a, 218b,2180, and 218d which connect respectively to the locking solenoids 100,140, 208, and 212.

In addition to the solenoids above described, the right front doormounts a single pole, double throw switch 220 which is connected to andoperated by a garnish molding hutton28. Similarly, the left frontdoorhas .asingle In the left rear door there is a-similar single pole,single throw switch 228 and a switch 230 which is similar to the rightrear door switch 43, both switches 228 and 230 being operated by thegarnish molding button 232.

The other elements of the system include an indicator which isillustrated as a lamp 234 arranged in a circuit to give an indication tothe driver if a rear door is unlocked when the transmission selectorlever is in a drive position. A selector switch designated generally as236 comprises a two-gang, three-position switch having switch units 236aand 236i). This switch, which is manually operable, is mounted on theautomobile dash or in some other location where it is readily accessibleto the driver. Each of the two movable poles of the switch has threepositions designated as M for manual, SA forsemi-automatic, and Atorautomatic in Fig. 5. T he left hand portion of the ganged switch, whenin manual position, is connected in a lead 246 later to be described,and the semi-automatic and automatic contacts of this portion of theswitch are open. The right hand portion of the switch has open manualand semi-automatic contacts, and the automatic cont-act, together withthe povable pole of the switch, is connected in a by-pass circuit laterto be described.

Manualrype operatinlg means If either one of the switches 220 or 222 isoperated by one of the front door garnish molding buttons or by the keylockfor that door, a circuit is completed from the battery to thelocking coils 100, 140, 208, and 212 in the respective doors. Closure ofthe switch 220, for example, in the other direction from that showncompletes a circuit from the battery 200 through lead 216 and-thearmature of switch 220 to a lead 238a. This lead, together with a branchlead 238]) which extends from the switch. 222, connects with a lead 238extending to the armature of switch 20412 which is connected to the coil20401 of the switching unit. When the solenoid becomes energized, acircuit is completed from the battery through lead 216 and a lead 240'to the switch contacts 204d of the switching unit. These contacts areclosed while'the coil 2014a is energized so that the battery isconnected toall the door locking solenoids 100, 140, 208, and 212through the lead 218 and its respective branches 213a, 218b, 2180, and218d. After a delay of approximately one second during which time themechanical door locks operate, the circuit breaker-or flasher unit 2040opens, deenergizing the coil 204a and the spring-loaded armature of thissolenoid is released, opening the contacts 7.0M causing the reversingswitches 204i) and 204s to change to the positions shown in brokenlines. Since contacts 204d are open, the-energizing circuit for thelocking solenoids is broken, and since reversing switch 2041) is in itsdotted lineposition, solenoid coil 204a will not again become energizedwhen flasher unit 204e closes.

If the garnish molding button in one of the rear doors subsequently israised, one ofthe warning switches 226 or 228 will be closed. If thetransmission selector lever controlled switch 202 is placed in the driveposition shown in Fig. 5, the indicator 234 will be energized to warnthe driver that a rear door is unlocked. The circuit for the warningdevice extends from a battery through a lead 242 which incorporates thedrive contacts of the switch 202 and the warning lamp 234. Branch leads242a and 24211 extend to the respective warning switches 226 and 228.

'In orderto unlock the doors, one of the switches 220 or 222 is operatedback to the position illustrated in Fig. 5 by the garnish molding buttonor key lock in one or" the front doors. This operation connects lead.216 to a lead. 244--Whi h isconnected to the ..o he1'; e.r.rr1inalof..re-

versing switch 204b so that solenoid coil 204a becomes energized andcontacts 204d close, completing the circuit through the switch 2040,which is in its broken line position, to a lead 246 which incorporatesthe manual contact of selector 236a. Lead 246 has branches 246a, 246b2460, and 246d which connect respectively to the door unlockingsolenoids 102, 142, 210, and 214. When these solenoids are energized,the mechanical locking apparatus of each door lock is shifted tounlocked position and the switches 220 and 222- are operated thereby.After a delay of approximately one second, the flasher unit 2042deenergizes solenoid coil 204a and reverses 204b and 204c. If the gearshift lever is in a drive position, the warning light 234 will operateas described above.

Semi-automatic lock operating means For semi-automatic operation themanual selector switch is moved to SA position. The locking operation isidentical to the manual locking operation described above. To unlock thedoors when the selector switch is set to its semi-automatic (center)position, the operation is similar to the manual procedure except thatclosing of contacts 204d does not close a circuit directly through lead246 since switch 236a is open. Instead, a circuit is completed through abypass lead 247 which incorporates the neutral contacts of switch 202and then connects with lead 246 on th other side of switch 236a. Whenthe transmission selector lever is in a drive position, thefneutralcontacts of switch 202 are open and the doors will not be unlocked.However, during the operation, the switching unit solenoid coil 204a isenergized and switches 204b and 2040 are reversed after a one seconddelay. Subsequent lowering of a front door garnish molding button willrelock an unlocked door. As in the manual system, the warning light 234operates if a rear door is unnlocked while the transmission selectorlever operated switch 202 is in a drive position.

Automatic type coincidental operation If the selector switch 236 is setto the automatic position, which is the position at the extreme right inFig. 5, locking and unlocking operations are identical to the manual andsemi-automatic operations so long as the transmission selector operatedswitch 202 is in its neutral position. When the switch is placed in itsdrive position, a connection is made from the battery and lead 242 to alead 250 which extends to the right hand portion 1236b of the selectorswitch. From the selector switch a connection is made with lead 238 andthence through switch 204b and flasher unit 204e to the solenoid coil204a. This energizes the coil and the locking operation is accomplishedautomatically If a front door garnish molding button is raised or if afront door key lock is operated while the transmission selector lever isin a drive position, a connection is made from lead 216 through one ofthe switches 220 or 222 and lead 244 to the switch 204b which is nowreversed and through this switch and the flasher unit 204:: to thesolenoid coil 204a to energize this coil and reverse the switches 20412and 204d, but since the transmission selec tor lever controlled switch202 remains in the position shown, the doors will lock againautomatically. There is a short period under this condition of operationwhen the manually unlocked front door can be opened before it isrelocked automatically. This period depends upon the cycle time of theflasher unit 2042 and is preferably of the order of one second. In otherwords, the front door garnish molding button which has been manuallyraised will automatically go down again after a delay of about onesecond.

If a rear door garnish molding button is raised while the transmissionselector lever controlled switch 202 is in its drive position, one ofthe switches 43 or 230 is closed at the start of the travel of thegarnish molding button which is being raised as explained in connectionwith Fig. 4. This grounds the coil 206a of the rear door safety relay206 since one end of this coil is connected to the battery through alead 252 which extends to the switch 236b and thence to the batterythrough the leads 250 and 242 and the switch 202 and the other end ofthe coil is connected to ground through a lead 254 and branch leads 254aand 25412 which are connected respectively to the rear door safetyswitches 43 and 230. When the normally open contacts 20612 of the relay206 close, the locking solenoids 100, 140, 208, and 212 are connected tothe battery through the lead 216, contacts 20Gb and lead 218 and itsrespective branches 218a, 218b, 2180, and 218d. As the garnish moldingbutton is raised to its full unlocked position. the spring 164 in theswitch 43 is further compressed, but the locking solenoid in the doorwhich is being operated holds the lock parts down so that the rod 45does not follow and the switch 43 opens. The rear door therefore cannotbe unlocked while the transmission selector lever controlled switch 202is in its drive position.

While we have shown and described certain embodiments of our invention,it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in theconstruction and arrangement may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an automobile having a source of power and having a plurality ofdoors, each of which has a door latch with mechanical locking meanstherefor, coincidental apparatus for operating said locking means in aplurality of doors simultaneously, comprising: motor means in each doorconnected to the locking means thereof; a transmission selector switchmovable between drive and neutral positions and connected to said motormeans; power relay means connected to said motor means for controllingthe energization thereof; control circuit means adapted to connect saidpower relay means in circuit with the source of power, said controlcircuit means including control switch means connected to and operatedby said mechanical locking means; time delay means connected to saidpower relay means, said time delay means including delay switch meansfor breaking the circuit to said power relay means at a predeterminedtime after energization thereof; and selector means operable tocondition said coincidental apparatus for a selected one of three typesof operation, the first type being manual, whereby coincidental lockingand unlocking are completely under the control of said control switchmeans, the second type being semi-automatic, whereby coincidentallocking is under the control of said control switch means butcoincidental unlocking is under the control of said transmissionselector switch when in neutral position, and the third type beingautomatic, whereby coincidental locking and unlocking are completelyunder the control of said transmission selector switch when in driveposition and are under the control of said control switch when thetransmission selector switch is in neutral position.

2. In an automobile having a source of power and having a plurality ofdoors, each of which has a door latch with mechanical locking meanstherefor, coincidental apparatus for operating said locking means in aplurality of doors simultaneously, comprising: motor means in each doorconnected to the locking means thereof; a transmission selector switchmovable between drive and neutral positions and connected to said motormeans; power relay means connected to said motor means for controllingthe energization thereof; control circuit means adapted to connect saidpower relay means in circuit with the source of power, said controlcircuit means including control switch means connected to and operatedby said mechanical locking means; time delay means connected to saidpower relay means, said time delay means including delay switch meansfor breaking the circuit to said power relay means at a predeterminedtime after energization thereof; and selector means operable tocondition said coincidental apparatus for a selected one of two types ofoperation, the first type being manual, where by coincidental lockingand unlocking are completely Under the control of said control switchmeans and the second type being automatic, whereby coincidental lockingand unlocking are completely under the control of :said transmissionselector switch when in drive posir-tion and are under the control ofsaid control switch when the transmission selector switch is in neutralposition,

3. In an automobile having a source of power and having a plurality ofdoors, each of which has a door .latch with mechanical locking meanstherefor, coincidental apparatus for operating said locking means in aplurality of doors simultaneously, comprising: motor means in each doorconnected to the locking means thereof; a transmission selector switchmovable between drive and neutral positions and connected to said motor.means; power relay means connected to said motor means for controllingthe energization thereof; control circuit means adapted to connect saidpower relay means in circuit with the source of power, said controlcircuit means including control switch means connected to and operatedby said mechanical locking means; time delay :means connected to saidpower relay means, said time delay means including delay switch meansfor breaking the circuit to said power relay means at a predeterminedtime after energization thereof; and selector means operable tocondition said coincidental apparatus for a selected one of two types ofoperation, the first type being semi-automatic, whereby coincidentallocking is under the control of said control switch means, butcoincidental unlocking is under the control of said transmissionselector switch when in neutral position, and the second type beingautomatic, whereby coincidental locking and unlocking are completelyunder the control of said transmission selector switch when in driveposition and are under the control of said control switch when thetrans- :mission selector switch is in neutral position.

4. Apparatus of the character claimed in claim 1, -wherein said motormeans comprises at least one solemoid connected to the mechanicallocking means of each door latch which is to be coincidentally operated.

5. Apparatus of the character claimed in claim 1, wherein said motormeans comprises a locking solenoid and an unlocking solenoid connectedto the mechanical locking means of each door latch which is to becoincidentally operated.

6. In an automobile having a battery and having a. pluraltiy of doors,each of which has a door latch with mechanical locking means therefor,coincidental apparatus for operating said locking means in a pluralityof doors simultaneously, comprising: motor means in each door comprisinglocking and unlocking solenoids connected to the mechanical lockingmeans of each door latch which is to be coincidentally operated; atransmission selector switch movable between drive and neutral positionsand connected to said motor means; power relay means connected to saidmotor means for controlling the energization thereof; control circuitmeans adapted to connect said power relay means in circuit with thebattery, said control circuit means including control switch meansconnected to and operated by said mechanical locking means; time delaymeans connected to said power relay means, said time delay meansincluding delay switch means for breaking the circuit to said powerrelay means at a predetermined time after energization thereof; andselector means operable to condition said coincidental apparatus for aselected one of three types of operation, the first type being manual,whereby coincidental locking and unlocking are completely under thecontrol of said control switch means, the second type beingsemi-automatic, whereby coincidental locking is under the control ofsaid control switch means but coincidental unlocking is under thecontrol of said transmission selector switch when in neutral position,and the third type being automatic, whereby coincidental locking andunlocking are completely under the control of said transmission selectorswitch when in drive position and are under the control of said controlswitch when the transmission selector switch is in neutral position.

7. In an automobile having a source of power and having a plurality ofdoors, each of which has a door latch with mechanical locking meanstherefor, coincidental apparatus for operating said locking means in aplurality of doors simultaneously, comprising: motor means in each doorconnected to the locking means thereof; a transmission selector switchmovable between drive and neutral positions and connected to said motormeans; power relay means connected to said motor means for controllingthe energization thereof; control circuit means adapted to connect saidpower relay means in circuit with the source of power, said controlcircuit means including control switch means connected to and operatedby said mechanical locking means; time delay means connected to saidpower relay means, said time delay means including delay switch meansfor breaking the circuit to said power relay means at a predeterminedtime after energization thereof; selector means operable tocondition'said coincidental apparatus for a selected one of three typesof operation, the first type being manual, whereby coincidental lockingand unlocking are completely under, the control of said control switchmeans, the second type being semi-automatic, whereby coincidentallocking is under the control of said control switch means butcoincidental unlocking is under the control of said transmissionselector switch when in neutral position, and the third type beingautomatic, whereby coincidental locking and unlocking are completelyunder the control of said transmission selector switch when in driveposition and are under the control of said control switchwhen thetransmission selectorswitch is in neutral position; and safety relaymeans including an actuating switch connected to the mechanical lockingmeans of at least one of said doors for connecting the locking solenoidsto the battery in the event said one door becomes unlocked.

8. In an automobile having a battery and having front and rear doors,each of which has a door latch with mechanical locking means therefor,coincidental apparams for operating said locking means in a plurality ofdoors simultaneously, comprising: motor means in each door comprisinglocking and unlocking solenoids connected to the mechanical lockingmeans of each door latch which is to be coincidentally operated; atransmission selector switch movable between drive and neutral positionsand connected to said motor means; power relay means connected to saidmotor means for controlling the energization thereof; control circuitmeans adapted to connect said power relay means in circuit with thebattery, said control circuit means including control switch meansconnected to and operated by said mechanical locking means; time delaymeans connected to said power relay means for breaking the circuit tosaid power relay means at a predetermined time after energizationthereof; selector means operable to condition said coincidentalapparatus for a selected one of three types of operation, the first typebeing manual, whereby coincidental locking and unlocking are completelyunder the control of said control switch means, the second type beingsemi-automatic, whereby coincidental locking is under the control ofsaid control switch means but coincidental unlocking is under thecontrol of said transmission selector switch when in neutral position,and the third type being automatic, whereby coincidental locking andunlocking are completely under the control of .said transmissionselector switch when in drive position and are under the control of saidcontrol switch when the transmission selector switch is in neutralposition; and safety relay means including a momentary contact actuatingswitch connected to the mechanical locking means of each rear door forconnecting the locking solenoids to the battery in the event one of saidrear doors becomes unlocked.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

